Digest

Local News in Brief : Group to Raise Funds to Fight Phoenix House

Lake View Terrace homeowners will launch their fight against First Lady Nancy Reagan's proposed drug treatment center this weekend with a "vote with your stomach" fund-raiser.

Lewis Snow, president of the Lake View Terrace Home Owners Assn., said his group hopes to raise $1,000 through the sale of hot dogs and sodas Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The group will set up a booth in front of Phil's Food Queen Market, 11950 Foothill Blvd., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

Money raised will go toward hiring a planning consultant to help residents fight Phoenix House, the national drug treatment agency chosen by Mrs. Reagan to create and run the center at the former Lake View Terrace Medical Center.

Phoenix House won the right to buy the bankrupt hospital at the end of May. The agency has until mid-December to raise $7.7 million needed for the purchase and to receive a required Los Angeles city conditional-use permit to operate adolescent and adult drug treatment centers at the former hospital.

Snow said the weekend fund-raiser would be "just the first step." He said at least $10,000 would be needed to hire the caliber of professional help needed to fight an organization such as Phoenix House.